


Aftertaste of Void

by bailygay



Category: Original Work, The Midnight Gospel (Cartoon)
Genre: Clancy Gilroy Needs A Motherfucking Hug, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Interview with the Void, Screenplay/Script Format, Self-Discovery, Self-Doubt, The Void, i watched midnight gospel 12 times at this point, this is 2210 words of me writing about clancy going through it okay its how i cope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29338914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bailygay/pseuds/bailygay
Summary: Clancy lands on a new planet expecting a new interviewee and instead, gets his emotional shit rocked.
Relationships: Clancy Gilroy & Original Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Aftertaste of Void

**Author's Note:**

> Monster, the interviewee, is based upon my original work The Monster Under the Bed, which is not posted at this time, but I hope you can still enjoy the fic!

_The Midnight Gospel: Aftertaste of Void (A Crossover Episode)_

CLANCY……………………………………………….………………….a chaotic young podcaster from The Midnight Gospel

MONSTER………………………………………………….a neutral being of pure void from The Monster Under My Bed

_CLANCY enters, holding a flickering flashlight. The world around him is dark, pure void._

CLANCY

Hello? Anyone there?

_He takes a few steps backwards, bumping into something. He slowly turns around_.

H-hello?

MONSTER

Hello there!

CLANCY

And who might you be?

_CLANCY shoves a microphone in the general direction of whatever he bumped into._

MONSTER

Well, I’m pure void! I don’t have a name, but you can call me—

_Nothing but static is heard._

CLANCY

Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.

MONSTER

Oh! Apologies, its –

_Nothing but static is heard again._

CLANCY

How about I just call you Monster?

MONSTER

A little presumptuous but okay.

CLANCY

Sorry, man, its just—you’re, ya know, big and slimy—

MONSTER

Its rude to mention the slimy part.

CLANCY

Sorry, sorry. I’m Clancy. Can I interview you for my spacecast? It goes out into space and stuff.

MONSTER

Sure, why not.

CLANCY

Cool, cool, cooooool. Now, uh, what do you do?

MONSTER

What do I do? What do I do? Well, let me tell you! I eat nightmares.

_CLANCY AND MONSTER begin walking. As they walk and talk, the world around them changes scenery. People and things pass by and Clancy and Monster can interact with them, taking pauses in their interview, its up to the actors what they interact with._

CLANCY

Woah, you eat nightmares? That’s so… cool? Epic? Noteworthy?

MONSTER

I’d say epic is fitting.

CLANCY

Now, do they taste like anything? The nightmares.

MONSTER

They do, they taste like a bunch of different things, depending on the nightmare. Now a sad nightmare, those taste fruity, almost like an apple. However, a scary nightmare, like really scary, will taste sour, very sour, and those ones are my favorite, but they’ll taste sour, like a lemon.

CLANCY

What about weird nightmares, say… being eaten by worms?

MONSTER

Oh, those ones are very earthy, like kale. I’m not a huge fan of those.

CLANCY

Of course not, why would you be? Obviously not a very good nightmare—

MONSTER

Not bad! Just not to my tastes, my friend— _[static again]_ \--he really loves them, he thinks they’re great, just not for me, ya know?

CLANCY

Oh, for sure, for sure.

MONSTER

Of course, different people’s nightmares have different aftertastes as well. For example, this one young person I know has nightmares with an amazing aftertaste, but their father’s nightmares have such an unpleasant one. Really strange but also intriguing.

CLANCY

Yeah totally, almost like when you cook the same dish but with a different type of ingredient, say—

MONSTER

Pot stickers?

CLANCY

Yeah! Pot stickers! Say you’re cooking some pot stickers and you make them all the time using veggie oil but this one time, you use olive oil and sure, they taste fine at first but then you get the residue oil stuck to them and the aftertaste is all wrong.

MONSTER

I don’t eat food but I totally agree, yes, like that.

_They laugh._

CLANCY

Are all of you nightmare eaters as picky as you?

MONSTER

What? I’m not picky!

_CLANCY gives them a look._

Okay, maybe just a little bit, when I can afford to be picky, but normally I just tend to stick with scary nightmares of all kinds. In a nightmare famine, I’ll even eat sweet nightmares but I’m really choking those down, you know.

_MONSTER mimes choking and makes a gagging noise._

No, thank you, no sickly-sweet nightmares for me.

CLANCY

Understandable, totally forgivable.

MONSTER

Of course! But back to your question, no, not all of us are picky as me. I just like to enjoy my meals and if I don’t like the flavor, how can I enjoy it?

CLANCY

You make a good point there.

MONSTER

And so, what if I’m a little picky? Is it a crime to enjoy my meals? Just because I’m made of void doesn’t mean I can’t have _taste_.

CLANCY

Taste, huh?

MONSTER

Yep!

CLANCY

Taste…

_The lights of the dark world they are in begin to VERY SLOWLY lighten._

MONSTER

Yes! Taste for life!

CLANCY

For life?

MONSTER

(nodding) For everything you do! If it’s not to your personal tastes, why are you doing it?

CLANCY

Uh.. because I have to?

MONSTER

Why not make it to your taste?

CLANCY

What do you _mean_?

MONSTER

Make. It. To. Your. Taste! Do it the way you want to! Dress the way you want to! You don’t have to break the rules, just bend them. What’s something you don’t like to do?

CLANCY

I don’t like to… brush my teeth?

MONSTER

What’s something you like to do?

CLANCY

I like to clean my room?

MONSTER

Then brush your teeth every time you clean your room! Sure, you might not clean your room every day, but your extra brushing will certainly help even if it’s only every other day.

CLANCY

What do you know? How do you know that would help?

MONSTER

(shrugs) I don’t know, that’s what I would do. What’s the point in living a life that you don’t want or even like?

CLANCY

Oh. I guess… yeah, that might help then.

MONSTER

It might. But what do I know? I’m just void, I don’t have human problems, like heartbreak and taxes.

CLANCY

What problems does the void haaav—woah…

MONSTER

Wha—woah…

_By now, the world around them is filled with glittering light, reflected by a bunch of tiny mirrors hanging from the tree branches of the forest they walk through. The trees are silver and reflect light. The world is full of beams of every color imaginable. It is a forest of refracted light. CLANCY walks away from MONSTER and starts peering in the mirrors._

CLANCY

What’s with all the mirrors?

MONSTER

I’m not for sure but… It’s so beautiful though…

CLANCY

Yeah, its gorgeous, there’s so many colors—wait why does my reflection look like that?

_CLANCY’s reflection shows him looking extremely ragged and tired, skinny and dead looking. He looks like a zombie._

MONSTER

Like what?

_CLANCY tries to hide his reflection from MONSTER._

CLANCY

Ha-ha, never mind its totally normal, nothing to see here.

MONSTER

Its okay if you don’t want to show me, Clancy. You don’t have to show me parts of yourself you don’t want to.

CLANCY

What do you mean parts of myself?

MONSTER

These mirrors reflect how we view ourselves and how we treat ourselves.

CLANCY

I thought you said you didn’t know what they were.

MONSTER

I said I wasn’t sure, and I wasn’t until your reaction. Do you take care of yourself, Clancy?

CLANCY

What? Of course, I take care of myself, I am the pinnacle of health! Why wouldn’t I, it’s not like—

MONSTER

Clancy, its okay, it was just a question. You’re not being judged based upon your answer. This isn’t a test.

CLANCY grows visibly frustrated.

CLANCY

I know this isn’t a test, if it was a test the answer would be A, Clancy takes care of himself very well, thank you very much!

MONSTER

You’re deflecting. You know its okay to not be doing well all the time, don’t you?

CLANCY

Of course, I know that! Its just—just, I have—

_CLANCY turns and looks back in the mirror. He collapses to his knees, staring up at the mirrors._

MONSTER

It’s okay, Clancy, it’s going to be okay.

_MONSTER stands next to CLANCY as he cries. The world around them fades away and the lights slowly, one by one, blink away until they are left in darkness once again. A spotlight highlights just CLANCY and MONSTER is in the void._

CLANCY

Wha—

MONSTER

I was born of the void.

_As MONSTER speaks, the story they tell is projected behind them._

I was born to eat the nightmares of humans. I never questioned my purpose. I never questioned what I was supposed to do. Why would I when that’s all I ever knew?

_MONSTER’S voice is thrown about the void, almost as if they ARE the void._

I feasted. I ate as many nightmares as I could. I ate without thinking about what I was eating. I grew big and strong and _monstrous_. I never questioned what I was eating. I never questioned what I could become from nightmares that were _too sour_ , too full of fear and hatred.

_MONSTER pauses, as if they are choosing their words carefully_.

I became a Dream Eater.

CLANCY

A Dream Eater?

MONSTER

One of my kind who eats nice dreams. I was so poisoned by the too sour, too sweet, too intense nightmares that I began to eat the good, happy dreams that weren’t for me, weren’t meant to be devoured. I became feared, I was a bringer of nightmares. Children would cry for their parents as I hid under their bed and feasted upon their dreams, poisoning them as I too was poisoned.

CLANCY

Oh no…

MONSTER

I was the monster under the bed, the darkness in the closet, the nightmare hidden in the corner. I didn’t realize the damage I was causing to them, not to mention myself. And then I met Jamie.

_The beams of light begin to return, very slowly, one by one._

CLANCY

Jamie?

MONSTER

I lived under Jamie’s bed for six months. They were like you, Clancy.

CLANCY

What? You barely know me.

MONSTER

I know you, Clancy. I know what you fear, I know what you long for, what you wish for.

CLANCY

H-how?

MONSTER

I am void. I am all-knowing.

CLANCY

Oh. I guess that makes sense.

MONSTER

Now, you and Jamie were alike, hiding your true self under a mask. You humans always do that you know? You act as if you’re okay but inside you’re rotting, aren’t you?

_CLANCY looks away._

Its okay! Sometimes that can protect you. But it’s okay to let people in. It’s okay to let people see you as you truly are, mess and all.

CLANCY

What does this have to do with Jamie and being a Dream Eater?

MONSTER

Jamie let me in. They opened their heart to me. We became friends and…

CLANCY

And?

MONSTER

I realized I was poisoning them. They only had so many nightmares because I was eating all their good dreams, not allowing them to experience anything else. So, I left.

CLANCY

They opened their heart up to you… And you _just left_?!

MONSTER

I had to. It was the only way for Jamie to truly heal and for me to become myself again.

CLANCY

How did you do it?

MONSTER

I did what you humans call “fasting”. I refused my purpose and purged the dreams and nightmares from my person. By the end of the millennia, I was no longer a Dream Eater. I was me again.

_The world around them is once again bright and beautiful. MONSTER helps CLANCY to his feet. CLANCY looks in the mirror again and gasps at the image he sees._

CLANCY

What—what are you?

MONSTER

I told you, I am void.

CLANCY

But—but your re-reflection…

MONSTER

My reflection is of no consequence. Look at your own.

_CLANCY stares hard into the mirrors, touching and turning his face, looking from every angle._

CLANCY

I look the same.

MONSTER

_Look harder._ Tell me what _you_ see.

CLANCY

I see… myself, but I don’t look as… dead? When I first looked in the mirror, I looked like a zombie but now I just look, _tired_.

MONSTER

You should let yourself rest more. No need to be “go-go-Go!” all the time, is there?

CLANCY

Yeah, I guess so…

MONSTER

I know so. It’s okay to take breaks. A break saved me.

_CLANCY rolls his eyes, but he smiles._

CLANCY

Maybe a break wouldn’t hurt.

MONSTER

I think a break really wouldn’t hurt. How about a nap? You have been crying, humans usually fall asleep after crying.

CLANCY

Can we—can we not bring up the crying thing? Please?

MONSTER

Oh, sorry. My lips are sealed.

CLANCY

You don’t have lips…?

_MONSTER and CLANCY share a small laugh. CLANCY reaches to pluck a mirror from the trees._

MONSTER

Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you—

_CLANCY picks one of the mirrors off the tree. A loud rumbling noise begins, and the trees begin to shake, making the mirrors clink against each other._

Uh oh.

CLANCY

What? What did I do?

MONSTER

The trees—

CLANCY

The trees?!

MONSTER

The trees don’t like it when you take one of the mirrors, they’re getting angry.

CLANCY

How can a _tree_ be angry?!

MONSTER

You’re talking to the void!

CLANCY

Touché.

MONSTER

Anyways, I’d get out of here if I were you, I’ll try to talk to them and calm them down.

CLANCY

Good idea, I’m outta here. Thank you for the interview! It was a pleasure talking to the void.

MONSTER

Pleasure talking to you too, Clancy. Goodbye!

CLANCY

Adios!

_CLANCY waves goodbye to MONSTER who waves back, and they share a smile. CLANCY pulls a horn out of his bag and blows it. The world explodes into a blinding bright light and then goes black._

End of Play.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this for my stage writing college class because my professor told me to write fanfiction. theatre majors am i right? well, i hope you liked this entire dumspter fire of a fic! i plan on having a reading in class and maybe recording this into a podfic so if anyone wants this to be a podfic w actual voice actors (im theatre major i know enough actors) comment and let me know!
> 
> (also if anyone likes Monster and wants to read Monster Under the Bed, let me know and ill upload a few chapters!)


End file.
